Understanding
by Rain on Roses
Summary: "Miranda thought it was almost appropriate, that Cedric who could twist just about anyone's mind on itself, could not escape his own one great flaw." A late night conversation between our two shifters. Implied Phobos/Cedric. Set during X is for Xanadu.


Miranda had always considered a brisk walk around the castle good for her mind, and today her mind could certainly use some clearing. Now that Phobos sat on the throne again, her mind was a flurry of doubts and anger regarding her service to the traitorous Prince. This evening, the first back in the castle, she found herself in the part of castle Lord Cedric resided in. It was seemly empty, even of guards and its owner, as she strolled down a hallway. It was the perfect place get those thoughts out of her mind, temporarily at least. There was little point stewing over something she could not change, she decided.

She gazed up at the thick tapestries that hung upon the walls. Unlike the rest of castle which featured blank, stark, ramparts; Cedric had insisted in hanging bright, deeply rich colored draperies throughout his halls. Miranda had assumed during her first years at the castle that Cedric enjoyed the cold, blankness of the castle as much as she and Phobos did. She had quickly found this to be untrue. Cedric's chambers were covered in bright fabrics, baubles, and werelights that danced across the ceiling. Cedric had informed her once that it was reminiscent of his old home. This did not surprise her, the Bohjars, Cedric's family, were known by all shifters for their extravagance.

She smiled slightly as she twirled a strange glowing orb upon its pedestal. Shifters were notorious hoarders, and Cedric was one of the worst she had met. She herself did not have many items here and although Cedric was extremely protective of his charms, he let Miranda indulge her whims and fuss with them as often as she wanted. She was still enthralled when a loud, sickening, crash emanated from the inner compartments. Miranda turned, fearing intrusion, and burst into Cedric's room.

Cedric's wide, startled, eyes greeted her. The other shifter stood in the ruins of what was once his chamber. The beautiful tapestries had been torn from the wall and shredded. Broken glass and metal had been scattered around the great room as if a powerful storm had ripped them from their places. Desks and bookshelves had been overturned, and ink marred the floor like black bloodstains. Miranda also spotted a large painting which appeared that it might, at one time, have bared the likeness of the Prince upon it that had been ripped by deep claws marks and thrown against a wall. A tall mirror stood broken and bloody, just as Cedric's hands were cut and blood-stained. Cedric stood, trembling, in the middle the room; a large blue glass ornament still clutched in his bloody grasp as he stared in horror at Miranda.

Miranda looked dumbstruck at the room before rounding on Cedric.

"What are you doing!?" she cried.

Cedric, like a hooked fish, gaped and shuddered and looked around in dazed manner, as if he was unsure if he had truly caused the chaos, before his face regained its normal calm façade.

"I am…" Cedric let the glass tumble from his hands and it hit the floor breaking into a hundred jagged pieces. "…redecorating" he finished flatly.

Miranda shook her head in disbelief at the destruction. She had never seen Cedric throw such a fit over anything, much less destroy things in his wake. He had always seemed so composed, she could only stare in dismay at the other shifter.

"Why…?" she trailed off, trying to wrap her thoughts around the whole situation.

Cedric puffed his chest slightly and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I heard a crash" she stated simply, her mind working to understand what had caused Cedric to lash out so violently.

"Why are you destroying your things?" she asked softly as she regained some composure.

Cedric looked sharply at the room, as he clasped his hands together and nervously wrung them.

"I cannot stand to look at them anymore."

Miranda's eyes darted to the mutilated painting. In that moment a flash of realization struck her. "I see."

Even Cedric's formal robes lay in tatters, and he was instead clothed in a floor length green surcoat Miranda had never seen before. The destruction of these priceless items frustrated her, and Cedric's own anxious energy fed her, but she remained visibly calm.

"You would not understand." Cedric murmured softly.

Miranda understood. "Your hands are bleeding." She said.

Cedric glanced at his hands, still clutched together, and then scanned the room before his gaze landed on the mirror.

Whilst Cedric stared blankly, Miranda glided over to ruined painting, running her fingers over what was left of the face of the Prince. It had, at times, seemed a shame to her to see the other shifter with a human. Oh, she had known they carried on in the darker recesses of palace, even when very few others did. She knew Cedric's feelings ran a little deeper than mere lust. During their talks all those months ago, she warned him. Warned him not to invest so much into a human, warned him what his _love_ would bring to him. While Cedric had returned to Phobos during the final battle Miranda had attempted to flee. She knew better than to expect any forgiveness from the Prince. Cedric it seemed, did not.

Miranda gazed down at particularly warped piece of metal that was flecked with blood. Her dress brushed against a fist sized purple gem had been slammed into the floor with enough force to crack it. Many more broken items lay scattered around, some she had never seen before. From the looks if it, she presumed most of Phobos' plundering had gone to Cedric. The Prince was one of the few humans she knew that cared little for earthly riches. Every precious item had Cedric had ever gotten from Phobos, perhaps from anyone, lay bent and broken at their feet. She could never imagine herself in a state of mind to destroy them, even if they were from him.

"Cedric…" she said, picking up the cracked jewel.

Cedric panted, releasing a breath she had not noticed he was holding. "They are just things. They do not mean anything."

Miranda glanced at Cedric. They had once meant something to him. But she understood, understood that Phobos must have left some taint within Cedric had he could not shake from himself.

Miranda sniffed, once again it seemed that a puny human had brought low the mighty hunters. Cedric had allowed Phobos to use up his body and mind until it had broken in this desperate fit of rage and sorrow laid out before her. Miranda could not imagine allowing someone to have such a hold over her. She had obeyed Phobos' and Nerissa's orders, but she would never permit them to haunt her thoughts and twist her mind till it cracked.

"You should not have done this" she said. She wasn't sure if she was still talking about the destruction or not.

"You do not understand" he repeated.

"I understand you better that you think!" cried Miranda. Cedric raised an eyebrow at her outburst, and relaxed into what was left of a chair.

"Oh? Do you?" he asked.

"Yes." She sneered. "It's Phobos"

Cedric laughed, though his voice sounded slightly unhinged. "What about him?"

"I warned you this would happen. I told not to put so much trust into him!" Miranda gestured wildly. "Look at yourself. You are a mess."

Cedric gazed at her coldly, his face upturned and his lips twisted into something that resembled a sneer. "Don't critique me child"

"Me? The child? Ha. You're no better than Princess Elyon, so content to be fed lies that you would blindly stumble-"

Miranda jumped and almost fell over as Cedric raised himself up and snarled at her, his voice echoing off the halls. Cedric had never snarled at Miranda. She clutched the gem she didn't she was still holding and asked. "Why?"

She wasn't even sure what the why was for. Why love him? Why stay? Why?

Cedric, still tense, glanced at her sadly. He then lower himself slightly and spoke.

"On Earth there are birds that, apparently, stare at up into the sky during rainstorms for so long, they drown themselves."

Miranda blinked. "What is your point Cedric?"

"Perhaps, they are so senseless they do not realize what is happening or maybe they just love the rain so much, they do not care."

Miranda huffed. She understood Cedric was being poetic, but she would have preferred a straight answer. However maybe she didn't need one. Miranda considered herself an expert on people, and she was sure she understood.

Phobos was a man who towered over other people, a man who loved power, who tossed people aside like used trashed when they served their purpose to him. Unfortunately, that sort of man drew people to him like Cedric. Individuals like Cedric who were strong and proud but with a surreptitious flaw close to their person, a deep desire that led them into danger. Miranda thought it was almost appropriate, Cedric who could twist just about anyone's mind on itself, could not escape his own one great flaw.

She could see it on his face now; that buried shame which had come to surface. While Cedric had been blinded by the rainstorm, Phobos had smote him with lighting.

"I've been a fool." Cedric seemed smaller and softer than ever as he spoke, as if the words themselves were a burden to bear. He lower himself slowly unto the floor, curling in on himself.

Miranda had never considered herself very sympathetic, she had lied, cheated, and hurt others all through her life. She had felt no regret as the Princess brat had shrieked for her assistance all those months ago, however the sight of a member of her race brought low by a human sparked old feelings within her.

"I loved him. It didn't matter what he did. Until…" Cedric trailed off, his eyes glistened with intensity. "It seemed like a game you know? I had disillusioned myself so much. I realize this now. I _was_ as blinded as our doomed Princess." Cedric spat the next words out. "A _game_ does not leave people knotted in fear with this endless, hopeless desire to be good enough. A game does not leave people risking everything, bleeding and begging and…" Cedric tensed and blanched slightly.

Miranda signed and went to join Cedric on the floor. She wasn't sure if Cedric would accept her condolences, of what use were they to him after all? The damage had been done. And while she never understood heartbreak, there was one thing she differently understood.

"Have you thought about getting revenge on Phobos?" she asked cautiously.

Cedric looked sharply at her, his amethyst eyes narrowed dangerously. However soon after his face fell and he watched her intensely for a moment.

"I have." He answered slowly, his eyes narrowed around cautiously.

Miranda flexed her lithe muscles even as a wicked smile crossed her face. "Oh? Let's hear"

She was eager to shift Cedric's attention away from his melancholy, a trap she knew was easy for shifters to fall into. Cedric remained serious as he explained what the Keeper of Heart had been setting the Prince up for with that vow, and how they could use that to their advantage. Miranda was surprised, and impressed that Cedric had foreseen such a trap when the Prince had not. It seemed a sound plan to her.

"Are you going to go through with it?" she asked. Her own thoughts of revenge swirling through her. Phobos would pay for humiliating her, brought down by the ones he depended on the most. It was fitting she decided.

Cedric looked at her with critical eyes. "I am not sure yet." He said softly.

"What? You're not going to waste this opportunity are you? To hurt him back?" she cried desperately.

Cedric signed, and for a moment he seemed far away from her. Then he cast his gaze upwards and asked.

"Have you ever been in love?"

Miranda was slightly annoyed, but she answered honestly.

"No, I haven't."

"Then, do not presume you understand everything little one"

* * *

So behold this odd little drabble. I always thought the Cedric/Miranda twist at the end of W.I.T.C.H was too bizarre. However, I feel like they might have been sort of friends even before season two, being seemingly the only two shifters in the castle. I feel like they would have had interesting conversations. Anyway this was inspired by a Tumblr ask done by Crimson Memory, her insights definitely shaped my view of Miranda and Cedric's relationship. Hmm, not much else to say, except this little piece just would not leave me alone. It's certainly not perfect by any means, but I decided to finish it none the less.


End file.
